A guide to brainwave rhythms

EEG records electrical activity at the scalp. Researchers describe parts of that activity using frequency bands, often called delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma.

These bands overlap across activities and brain regions. They are not five switches that put everyone into the same state. A label in a listening library does not measure your brain activity.

Use the explorer below to see how slower and faster rhythms differ. The animation is an illustration, not a live EEG reading.